Tag Archives: research

I went to a very interesting event about science journalism in the UK last year at the Royal Institution which I blogged about about the time. One of my conclusions was that many of the issues faced by science journalism reflect very closely issues faced on coverage of European issues. Science isn’t covered well by the general press. Neither is Europe, on the whole. So when you put the two together, as the Daily Mail did this morning, then you can imagine what comes out.

Needless to say, the Daily Mail over-simplified, if not to say ridiculed, the real situation. The project has found ways to improve fruit storage, reduce waste, cut pesticide use and encourage children to eat fruit instead of sweets. These are important things. An interesting fact: The EU produced 7.7 million tonnes of eating apples in 2008. So if research like this can cut costs so that apple prices fall by just one penny per kilo that will mean annual savings for consumers of £64 million – or more than five times the cost of the project. Never mind the health benefits of reduced pesticide use, and the suffering caused by allergies (I know alot about that one!) This was the first project to quantify the cholesterol-reducing properties of apples, which can have a direct effect in reducing medicines taken – saving health services money.

Of course, we could have told the Mail all of this if they had bothered to ask us…

It’s been a bit of a bonko day today, with me running around like the proverbial headless chicken. Tuesday is planning day, when we have our regular team meeting, so I spent the morning trying to work out what would be happening in the next week or so, which Commissioners are coming to town and what the good stories are, or the ones we need to be ready for if people are negative. I had lunch with a BBC journalist that I had met on Saturday night at the French reception at the V&A. I actually first met her years ago when she did a piece on the Commissioner I was working for at the time, so it was nice to reconnect with her. We just talked about some of the big topics in the European sphere at the moment – the treaty of course, but others like energy, biofuels, GM. Nothing concrete is going to come out of it at this stage, but it’s all part of the job – keeping the fires smouldering so that when something becomes a hot topic, the knowledge is there (if that’s not too mixed a metaphor!). We also had a meeting with the Foreign Office communication team and the British Council about an idea for the future – a mock EU Council. It has been done for a few years in Northern Ireland and we’re looking at doing it more widely. I think it should be fun – takes me back to the horsemeat quota exercise during my civil service induction training, when we all had to take the role of certain Member States trying to finalise the allocation of horsemeat quotas for a particular year! Add to all of this trying to write an article on tomorrow’s proposal for a “Small Business Act” and fierce hayfever, and you can see a) why I have been decapitated poultry and b) quite how varied this job is!

Yesterday was differently fun – during the afternoon we got a request for Commissioner Wallstrom, who was here to attend a Committee at the House, to do the lead interview on Channel 4 news. She had been at a demonstration about the terrible situation in Zimbabwe that morning and so C4 wanted to have her on. Great stuff! It meant liaising with Channel 4 about times, getting the low-down on the latest situation from Brussels, briefing her, taking her to the interview, which had to be done by the tube because of difficulties getting a signal round the office and then getting her back more or less in time for the interview she had agreed to do earlier. Anyway, it all worked out in the end, and it was quite fun. I’ve had quite a bit to do with Mrs Wallstrom over the years – she covered for Anna Diamantopoulou as Employment Commissioner when I was Spoke while Anna was doing the Greek elections – and it’s always a pleasure. And the interview came out pretty well when it was shown later that evening.

Anyway, tonight will be nice, because I’m heading down to South Croydon to have dinner with Alexia and Alan, friends from Brussels from way back. It’s their daughter’s second birthday, so I hope I will get away in time to see the kids before they go to bed. Better try to get a wee pressie as well.

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